The Switch [COMPLETED]

Chapter 38

Paisley Monroe:

All the next day, I couldn't shake the feeling that Asher had been about to tell me something really important on the soccer field before we were interrupted by Zack. I was eager to get back into my own body, true, but there was a part of me that was beginning to worry about what that would mean for Asher and I. As much as I was embarrassed to admit it, I didn't want to leave him. In some weird way, he made me forget about all of the mean things that people were saying about me online. With him I wasn't "Asher's girlfriend" or "the girl with the band;" I was just Paisley. Usually, I would rather be anyone BUT Paisley, but with him, I felt like who I was was almost...enough. I was happy being around him, despite his particular talent for driving me absolutely insane in a way that only he quite knew how. 

Over the past few days I had begun to develop a weird, tickling feeling in my stomach whenever he was around. What that meant I wasn't sure, but I was afraid that I knew the answer deep down. I wasn't sure I was ready to admit it - even to myself - but...

I was falling for Asher Halen. 

Asher - the infuriatingly cocky, temperamental, emotionally unavailable Asher - was filling a lot more of my thoughts than I would like lately. 

I absentmindedly kicked a rock with the toe of my shoe, sending it skittering over the asphalt and down the concrete steps of the little canal that I was walking next to. I needed to get Asher out of my head. As soon as we switched back, he would be gone, and I would be...

Where would I be?

I sighed and sat down on a slab of concrete at the edge of the canal, looking down into the murky water that flowed sluggishly into the dirty tunnel at the end. 

I had some money saved up from summer babysitting jobs. Plus, the boys had already agreed that I would be getting a portion of their pay from the tour since, for all intents and purposes, I WAS technically "working" with them. The amount of money from one show alone was all I needed to rent a small apartment somewhere. Maybe somewhere by the beach. I had always loved the beach. Maybe somewhere on the East Coast. South Carolina, perhaps...

I was drawn out of my thoughts by the unexpected presence of someone appearing beside me. I glanced to the side and noticed my favorite pair of worn-in combat boots, scuffed at the toes and missing the aglets from the tips of both of the laces, causing them to be frayed and scruffy-looking. 

Asher. 

"Hey," I mumbled without looking up, already feeling the familiar tightening in my stomach that signaled his presence. 

"Hey," he answered. A few moments passed before I felt him kick me lightly in the hip with his boot. "Mind if I sit?"

"Please do," I answered, scooting further down the makeshift bench to make room for him. 

He sat next to me and swung his legs over the side of the canal, dangling his feet inches above the water. We sat silently for a few moments before I took a deep breath and turned to face him.

"Where are the rest of the boys?" I asked.

"Playing Nintendo," he said, the ghost of a smile on his face, "as usual."

"Are they mad at me?" I asked hesitantly. "You know...for yesterday?"

Asher shrugged and shook his head. 

"No, they're not mad. They get it. Not a day goes by that we all wish we could say the exact same thing. Just...we're trained not to," he said with a teasing smile. 

I groaned and blushed, but Asher just laughed and leaned over to bump his shoulder into mine. 

"Don't worry about it," he continued. "No one is mad, seriously. They're all just worried about you."

I blinked and looked at him, feeling the uncomfortable tightness in my chest that signaled the tears that were surely on their way. 

"They are?" I asked, swallowing hard to keep the waterworks at bay.

Asher squirmed a bit and looked uncomfortable for a moment before turning his gaze away from me and out over the canal. 

"Yeah. Well...I'M worried about you," he admitted, the tips of his ears turning slightly pink. 

I blushed and followed his gaze across the water. 

"You are?" I asked in a whisper. 

He nodded stiffly, but didn't say anything. 

"How come?" I asked timidly, afraid to move for fear of breaking whatever weird spell had fallen over us in this moment that felt strangely sacred. 

"Because...because I care about you, Paisley. A lot. And you don't deserve what's happening to you right now. You don't deserve ANY of this - your rotten family, your stupid classmates, these dumb magazine articles..."

I blinked fast to stop the swell of tears that was pooling in my eyes, but Asher wan't done yet.

"It's ruining you. I can see you shutting down, and it sucks. I know how funny you are. I've seen how sassy and witty you can be. You keep saying that you're sorry, but I'm the one that's sorry. I'm part of the problem. Right from the beginning I saw you as nothing more than a silly girl, but...I was wrong. You're not silly." He paused to grin. "And right now, you're not even a girl."

I snorted and pushed him playfully, causing him to sway sideways on the bench with a laugh. 

"You're the most amazing person I've ever met, Paisley Monroe," he said seriously, finding my gaze and holding it. "And you're more than enough. I hope you know that. You've always been more than enough." 

"Asher, I..." I paused to catch my breath, allowing the tears to just fall freely now. "Thank you," I whispered, wiping my eyes on the sleeve of my sweatshirt. "And I'm sorry, too."

Asher laughed and rolled his eyes, but I stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder.

"No, really. Not for yesterday - although I AM still sorry for that - but for the way I treated you in the beginning as well. You're not just some stupid, spoiled playboy. You...you're actually pretty cool. And in some weird way, you've made me a better person. With you I feel...different. Better? Like finally the future doesn't seem so bad. I feel like me. And for once, I think I'm okay with being me. And it took becoming someone else to finally realize that."

Asher smiled and wrapped his hand around mine. 

"You make me glad to be me, too," he said earnestly. "I'm actually sort of happy this happened," he said, gesturing between the two of us with a grin. "Although, I could definitely do without the eyeliner next time," he joked, blinking his eyes with an expression of mock torture.

I laughed and leaned my head on his shoulder, the sunset reflecting off of the water in the canal and turning it from a dull brown to a brilliant, fiery red. 

"Thank you, Asher," I whispered. "For everything."

"Thank YOU, Paisley," he said back. "If I had to be anyone, I'm glad it's you."

I smiled softly and closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of the cool air and the smell of Asher's shampoo and the happy sound of the quietly bubbling water. 

Before I knew it, we were both asleep, our heads resting on top of each other as the sun sank down below the horizon, neither of us noticing the brilliant flash of light that occurred just before it disappeared and bathed the world in darkness...